Today, March 13, 2012 marks the 149th anniversary of the birth of the Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was in Bourg-en-Bresse, France , March 13, 1863 that it was begun under the inspiration of Visitation Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud.
We continue our story of its foundation from the Bulletin of the Guard of Honor of 1892:
The Monastery of Bourg had elected for the third time, in 1862, a Superior of rare merit, Mother Marie-Julie Cholet, who, following her election, consecrated the community to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
At the end of the month of December 1862, a letter arrived from the Monastery of the Visitation in Annecy, the Holy Source. One sentence especially stood out: “Our Lord has complained to a very favored soul that we do not employ enough zeal in making known the devotion to the Sacred Heart.”
This letter caused great emotion in the community at Bourg. They wondered with anxiety how they could activate the flame of their zeal, to make known the love of Jesus’ Sacred Heart.
One day, to one of the Sisters among them, the others said, “It is you who will have a new method of glorifying the Sacred Heart.”
How strange! The community confirmed a prediction made to a young religious back in 1849 by her Directress of Novices who had told her that God reserved for her the mission of making the Sacred Heart known and loved!
This was Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud.
In the early months of 1863, Sr. Marie had a vision of The Sacred Heart surrounded by a dial with the words Glory! Love! Reparation! She felt compelled to reproduce this image and entitle it Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart. Mother Marie-Julia, Superior of Bourg, on seeing the image, blessed and approved it allowing each sister to choose an hour of private prayer dedicated to the Heart of Jesus. Mother inscribed their names around the dial and on, March 13, 1863, the fledgling Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded.